Hell bent on really avoiding going solely for jump scares, the film has such an intensely strong sense of mood and atmosphere, that the film is an uncomfortable one to watch. Toss in the night terror inducing home video footage central to the plot, and you have a film that you won’t soon be forgetting. Sure, it does feel slightly over long and a bit meandering in moments, but with great performances from all involved, and some of the best horror craft work in years, Sinister is a must see film that you will never be able to forget. With an October release date looming, Summit has something truly special on their hands. Hopefully, I’ll be able to fall back asleep by then.

Todd Gilchrist @ The Playlist (a blog that is also hosted by indieWIRE) gives it a B-.

Huh. It's not a bad review, but there are quite a few better ones than that, Peter - so why choose that one to post? Especially given how upset I was when you posted the absolute worst reviews of my last film?

It's currently 100% fresh at Rotten Tomatoes with 8 reviews. I'll enjoy that while it lasts.

"but with great performances from all involved, and some of the best horror craft work in years, Sinister is a must see film that you will never be able to forget. "

Kudos to you Scott. I've often used the Exorcism of Emily Rose as an example in my continued argument that good horror films can be valuable from a Christian perspective. Comments like the one above leave me with high hopes that Sinister will be equally as compelling.

If reviewers are saying stuff like this shortly after the release of a film like Let the Right One In (or even Let Me In for that matter), then I'm thinking that October is going to be a long wait.

Scott Derrickson wrote:
: It's not a bad review, but there are quite a few better ones than that, Peter - so why choose that one to post?

I didn't -- it chose me.

But seriously, it was the only review I was even aware of. I wasn't going to post it at all, until Joel posted ANOTHER review from indieWIRE, so I added that one to the list, following the same basic template that he did.

: It's currently 100% fresh at Rotten Tomatoes with 8 reviews.

Very glad to hear it! (And while I have no idea if the reviews that Joel, Jeff and I posted here are currently listed at RT, they would all fall in the "fresh" camp, no?)

Scott Derrickson wrote:: It's not a bad review, but there are quite a few better ones than that, Peter - so why choose that one to post?

I didn't -- it chose me.

But seriously, it was the only review I was even aware of. I wasn't going to post it at all, until Joel posted ANOTHER review from indieWIRE, so I added that one to the list, following the same basic template that he did.

: It's currently 100% fresh at Rotten Tomatoes with 8 reviews.

Very glad to hear it! (And while I have no idea if the reviews that Joel, Jeff and I posted here are currently listed at RT, they would all fall in the "fresh" camp, no?)

A simple google search would've shown you quite a few more...but since it was the only one you saw, I totally understand. No worries.

Scott Derrickson wrote:
: A simple google search would've shown you quite a few more...but since it was the only one you saw, I understand.

FWIW, I subscribe to dozens upon dozens of news feeds through Google Reader, and The Playlist's review was literally the only one that had popped up there. (Two more have since popped up, plus another two in my Facebook RSS feed, plus a comment by Jeffrey Wells indicating that your film seems to have been one of the highlights of the festival.) Google Reader isn't Google Search, admittedly, but I tend to use it way, way more.

Scott Derrickson wrote:: A simple google search would've shown you quite a few more...but since it was the only one you saw, I understand.

FWIW, I subscribe to dozens upon dozens of news feeds through Google Reader, and The Playlist's review was literally the only one that had popped up there. (Two more have since popped up, plus another two in my Facebook RSS feed, plus a comment by Jeffrey Wells indicating that your film seems to have been one of the highlights of the festival.) Google Reader isn't Google Search, admittedly, but I tend to use it way, way more.

Like I said, no worries! I hadn't heard that Wells said that. Funny, given that he said my last film was "the end of my career". I remember that quote, because it was the only comment from a critic that literally made me lose sleep. But when a critic/blogger gets it wrong...nobody remembers.

Brunsting's comparison with Fincher's Seven is intriguing, as that is one of my favorite thrillers. (Would Seven be considered horror? That question might be for another topic thread.) I'm typically not one for viewing horror films in theaters--maybe I'm too neurotic to have strangers notice me jump in my seat--but I saw The Exorcism of Emily Rose in theaters and loved it. So I might have to give Sinister a try in October.

Brunsting's comparison with Fincher's Seven is intriguing, as that is one of my favorite thrillers. (Would Seven be considered horror? That question might be for another topic thread.) I'm typically not one for viewing horror films in theaters--maybe I'm too neurotic to have strangers notice me jump in my seat--but I saw The Exorcism of Emily Rose in theaters and loved it. So I might have to give Sinister a try in October.

Daily Variety compared it to The Shining. Seven is one of my top ten films of all time, but I never thought about it or rewatched it while making Sinister. The Shining, however, I watched several times, and even had Ethan Hawke watch specific scenes in it.

Programmed as a "super secret screening,"Sinisteris the brainchild of filmmaker Scott Derrickson and his writing partner (and Austin blogger/personality) C. Robert Cargill. It's also completely and totally terrifying, a brain melting, lip quivering journey into a dark and evil place populated solely by things that go bump in the night and want to destroy you and your entire family.Ethan Hawke stars as a true crime writer who moves his family into a new town to conduct research for a book and discovers a box filled with 8mm film canisters in attic. What's recorded on those films? That would be tipping my hand (especially since the film doesn't open until October). Let's just say thatSinister

isn't necessarily a fun horror movie — it's the kind of horror movie that stresses you out, steals your sleep and makes you keep seeing unsettling things in the corner of your eye. This is not watered-down PG-13 bullshit built to drag teenyboppers to the theater. I can't wait to see it again.

I'm not a horror fan, but based on how much I love The Exorcism of Emily Rose and The Shining, I am really looking forward to this, Scott. Emily definitely kept me up when I first saw it back in 2005.

Thanks Andrew. It's also worth noting that I wrote the script for Sinister right after all of our discussion here about the top 25 horror films. I definitely think those discussions had influence on the film.

I'm not a horror fan, but based on how much I love The Exorcism of Emily Rose and The Shining, I am really looking forward to this, Scott. Emily definitely kept me up when I first saw it back in 2005.

Thanks Andrew. It's also worth noting that I wrote the script for Sinister right after all of our discussion here about the top 25 horror films. I definitely think those discussions had influence on the film.